Who won the weekend -- TSM put up perfect record in Week 7

The esports world is a big place. Any given weekend, there can be more than a dozen competitions taking place worldwide, from massive events such as Dota 2's The International to League of Legends domestic play and regionals in Smash. Each week, we're going to take a look at the big picture and decide who had the biggest weekend, be it in impact on the esports scene, dominance of their game or making the most of a moment.

Last time out, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament IEM Katowice got out vote as the biggest moment of the weekend. Here's who we think won the weekend this week.

Winner: T-S-M, T-S-M, T-S-M

This time last week, Team SoloMid season was caput. After losing to a Yiliang "Doublelift" Peng-less Team Liquid starting an emergency backup who'd never played in the League Championship Series before, TSM dropped a game to the worst team in the entire league and archrival, Counter Logic Gaming, in a shambolic performance. Blow everything up. The split and any whimsical belief that the former gold standard of North America could make a run for a domestic title were over.

Seven days later and, well, congratulations TSM, you just won the weekend.

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In a match that felt lopsided entering Saturday, TSM played by far their smoothest game of the season by putting an end to Cloud9's hopes of having a perfect season. After C9 had blown out the rest of the LCS in 12 straight games, it was TSM, with four-time league MVP Soren "Bjergsen" Bjerg on his signature Zilean, that stopped the unbeaten squad in their tracks.

Through the first 12 games of the season, C9 were putting up cartoonish numbers, on their way to what would have been the most dominant single-season in League of Legends domestic competition history. That's all over now, as North America's personification of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde flipped the switch in a game that could be the catalyst to their first LCS championship in two years.

Down in the bottom lane, Vincent "Biofrost" Wang has finally found his footing on his former team, his Rakan against C9 being one of the main ingredients that got his team the all-important victory.

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On Sunday, TSM didn't slow down their momentum, taking out the No. 2 team in the league, FlyQuest, to tie their Sunday opponent in the standings heading into the final two weeks of the season. This time, Bjergsen went from a supportive Zilean to of one of his favorite picks in Irelia and proved he can still carry this team. He posted a 7/0/5 KDA (kills/deaths/assists) with 378 creep score in a one-sided victory over the team they're now in a dogfight with for second in the regular-season standings.

And while this was the TSM I expected to see from the start, with talented individual players at every role gaining advantages over less stacked rosters, it is too early to say that C9 finally have a worthy challenger for a possible dream LCS final. TSM have tricked us (and me) before. Every week this season, TSM has either gone 2-0 or 0-2, with no in-between, flip-flopping between a team ready to play against top teams from other regions and a team ready to lose against five random Platinum players.

For now, though, at least for one week, TSM are giving their large fan base a reason to believe once again. Next weekend, the rollercoaster might continue: TSM could keep on rising or take a massive drop when no one is expecting it.

Honorable mention: Dallas Empire

The Dallas Empire have an oddly storied history despite their short tenure in the league.

That pedigree has less to do with their Call of Duty veterans, James "Clayster" Eubanks and Ian "Crimsix" Porter, and more to do with the amount of hype around the team going into launch weekend. Prior to Minnesota, the Empire and the Atlanta FaZe were the two teams crushing scrimmages, and both teams looked like shoo-ins to win both of opening matches. Instead, Dallas fell completely flat, partially thanks to a last-minute patch to Modern Warfare that now seems like it happened years ago, and the Huntsmen joined Atlanta as the league's two top teams.

In the five weeks since then, the question has been when Indervir "iLLeY" Dhaliwal and Anthony "Shotzzy" Cuevas-Castro would step up, with the performance of Cuyler "Huke" Garland hanging in an odd, unmentioned limbo. This past week, the Dallas Empire showed that they are a team that can win championships, even when they're not playing at 100%. Shotzzy and iLLeY are now champions after only their second tournament, and despite doubts entering the CDL Los Angeles homestand, Shotzzy led his team during its 3-2 final victory over Minnesota with a 1.18 KD.

The evolution of this team makes Dallas a dangerous squad going forward. There's still untapped potential to be explored. As Huke said following their championship win, iLLeY and Shotzzy are here to stay, not just for this season but for years to come. I'm looking forward to seeing how the Empire continue to improve and evolve as a unit.